What does the student government do?

By Raphael Ranola & Dan Kibler Opinions Editor & Columnist

The Illinois Student Government is meant to be the representative voice of students at the University of Illinois.

It is structured much like the United States government, with the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Like our actual government, students are elected into their positions.

However, the extent to which ISG plays a role in student life on campus is a contentious subject.

In this column, a number of students across all grade levels were interviewed and asked what they believed ISG does.

Some of these students possessed some knowledge of what ISG can do. They cited that ISG is capable of making policy that helps the student body.

Other students said that the most important function of ISG is its role as a liaison between the student body and administration.

Some of the students interviewed had no idea what ISG does, both students who are new to the University and upperclassmen.

Others felt as though ISG does not do anything tangible to service the student body, and those participating in the organization are doing it for the benefit of having it on their resume.

In the eye of the student body, ISG exists on a spectrum. Some students acknowledge its capabilities while other students may not even know it exists. Some even argue that, while this is an existing organization, it exists only in name.

Many candidates in the upcoming ISG elections are hoping to redefine the role of ISG in student life. If these quotes are indication, this referendum is much-needed.

Dan is a senior in LAS. dkibler3@dailyillini.com

Raphael is a freshman in LAS. rrano2@dailyillini.com

“I don’t know what they do, and I perceive no real impact from their end on the dayto-day lives of the students. I am pretty uninformed of their purpose which is pretty bad considering I am a senior and have been here for a long time. However they just mean nothing to me, I basically just have apathy towards them.”

Senior in LAS

“They serve as a conduit between the administration of the university and the concerns of the student body. They try to make the university a better environment for the students.”

Andrew O’Connell, senior in LAS

“I don’t really know.”

Freshman in Engineering

“Not entirely sure, it seems like different events and school things are impacted by it, but I don’t really feel the impact of them. Student government seems to have a big picture and not as much day to day. In 4 years here, I’ve maybe only noticed 1 major change from student government on school things”

Senior in LAS

“My best guess is they use their student perspective to communicate issues with the higher-ups in University administration”

Poorna Kumar, sophomore in AHS

Nothing“Basically nothing. Student government has no real objective or changes. It’s just for people who want to have a resume builder.”

Matt, senior in ACES

“Student government doesn’t seem to have any real purpose. Our representatives get to be mock politicians, which is nice, but a lot of this could be accomplished with an RSO. They pass meaningless resolutions with no pushback but also no implementation beyond student fees. I think less than 10% of the student body votes in the student election which feeds this powerlessness as the administration knows these representatives barely represent even a fraction of the student body. ISG makes no moves to resolve this practically and continues to drive themselves into the ground by instead focusing on infighting and becoming the headline of some controversy every year. I wonder if they do more than I think, but I have a bad feeling they don’t.”

Graduate student in FAA

“I’m honestly not sure, and I’m not sure if they are even capable of doing very much at the school because they don’t make the rules. Honestly, to me they seem like a bunch of role-players who run for positions and ask for votes from a bunch of people who haven’t heard of them.”

Senior in FAA

“To my knowledge, the student government takes part in voting on important decisions for the student body. Similar to a student council in high schools, but in high school it felt like a front to make students feel like they had a part in big choices. However, at this university, I have seen or heard next to none from our own student government, so as far as I am aware they aren’t voting on much that is impactful. The last thing I remember hearing about student government was their discussion on the Kingfisher mascot change, but I’m not sure that came to much fruition. So really from my own experiences here, I feel the student government doesn’t do very much or at least inputs such minor changes that it isn’t noticeable on the university-wide scale.”

Senior in FAA

“Ideally they are supposed to represent the student body and lobby on behalf of them to the university administration. In practice, I think it’s just a vestigial organ of the University administration.”

Miles Ralph, junior in LAS

“I know that there’s some form and structure to it like an actual government, and they represent the different schools and colleges on campus. However, the main thing I am familiar with is how they are in charge of discipline. I believe they hold trials for people who are on appeal for breaking various codes of conduct at the university.”

“As far as I know student government makes policy on campus for select areas, but I’m not sure what those confines are, and I’m not totally sure what the specifics of ISG’s roles are.”

Sophomore in LAS

“They attempt to act as a liaison between the students and the administration. However, in practice, they represent something like one percent of the school arguing about stuff that the other ninetynine percent doesn’t care about.”

Senior in LAS

“It’s an elected group of students who try to act as a centralized voice for the whole student body so they can make suggestions on policies to the university officials.”

Brady Moran, senior in LAS

“Student Government is the place where students can bring up issues happening on campus and urge the administration to fix them. This includes things like drink spiking prevention with nightcaps and architecture students having to pay $10 a diagram and asking the university to print money. This can also include dealing with bigger things like antisemitism on campus or the GEO contract negotiations. The problem is we don’t have enough power to completely combat these issues, and we may never will.”

ISG Member, junior in LAS